The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

image of a tall man carrying a gnarled walking staff flashed through Brevelan’s mind. He appeared in the distance with the sun behind him. The glowing light of sunset outlined his long frame while it hid the details of his features.
    Brevelan forced herself not to tremble in memory of the same image waking her in a cold sweat from deep sleep.
    “Him.”
    The one in your dreams.
    “The one who brings destruction.” The vision had come to her three times. Only terrible portents of the future came in that number.
    Her mind was empty. Shayla was gone. Back to her lair to sleep off the exertions of mating and hunting.

Chapter 2
     
    J aylor dumped a bucket of water from the village well over his head. Icy droplets penetrated his unkempt hair and beard. His eyes cleared as some of the smoky stink washed away. Removing the stench from his clothing and hair would be another matter.
    He drank long from the next bucket, rinsing the rancid taste of ale from his mouth. The air around him was clean and cool after the closeness of the cave.
    When he had arrived in this village, he was too relieved to find habitation with drink and hot food to pay much attention to the place. Slowly he turned to survey the homes of the men who’d been in the pub.
    Hovels. All the dwellings were as poor and as ragged as the men. A scrawny pig rooted around the edges of the village. He’d never seen such a skinny creature!
    Now he felt guilty for eating the hot pasty and drinking their horrid ale—even though he’d paid good money for them. He felt as if he’d robbed the villagers of basic sustenance.
    It had been a hard winter for everyone. Food stores rotted from too much rain. Privation always brought out diseases that thrived in the cold damp. Yet the weather was never cold enough to kill the pestilence and stop the rot.
    Surely this village was in a better situation than most. The Great Bay lapped the foot of the cliff below the village. Fishermen had easy access to the bounty of the bay that fed Coronnan. Heavily forested foothills rose behind the rooftrees of the cottages. Wood should be plentiful for fishing boats, housing, furniture, and heat. Behind the houses he spied extensive fields and pastures spreading out beyond the village.
    In the center of the village stood the ceremonial Equinox Pylon. A cluster of five poles, sparsely decorated with oak branches and faded ribbons. Where were the fronds of everblue, bright with new life, the first shoots of grain and new garlands of ribbons to celebrate the coming of the most fruitful season?
    This was the first village he had encountered where life was so tenuous they didn’t sacrifice the best of the new for the equinox or even have garbage for a pig!
    Was this the result of a dragon stealing their food supply, too heavy taxation, or evidence of a neglectful lord?
    Krej, lord of this province, donated thousands of drageen every year to the poor, to the study of healing arts, and to the priests of the Stargods. The nobility in Coronnan City considered him a good and generous man. Perhaps he should have donated some of that money to his own province.
    Jaylor put aside his questions. His quest came first. Where was he, and where should he go next? “Go find a dragon, indeed.” He snorted. “As if they grow under rocks. More likely they roost on the top of the blasted Tambootie trees.”
    From memory he drew a map of the kingdom in the air before his eyes. Green lines glimmered in nothingness as he sketched the sweep of the Great Bay on the east, a long chain of mountains curving from northwest to southeast. Coronnan River wound from those mountains through the central plains to open out into a wide delta filled with islands and aits. Entrenched among the largest islands created by the river’s merging with the bay, Coronnan City presided over all shipping and commerce in the kingdom. Twelve provinces, equal in resources if not area, radiated out from the capital.
    He had started his quest at the University in Coronnan City. A blue dot appeared on the map at the head of the bay. A line wandered away from that dot on the map to track his journey east and south. At each stopping place, the blue line widened a tiny bit. He dredged from his capacious memory every detail of every village along the way, the size, wealth, location, and the number of poles in their Equinox Pylon. Most Pylons consisted of three poles, scrupulously maintained with flowers and fruits in due season.
    Five poles